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NEW HAMPSHIRE 



NEWS 



New Product — 



The Nest Box Project 



Bluebird and kestrel nest boxes are 

 being manufactured by the students 

 of the Tobey School, 45 South Fruit 

 Street, Concord. The school is a non- 

 profit organization helping children 

 with emotional and learning disabili- 

 ties and the children here learn im- 

 portant skills building these boxes 

 in the vocational building and trades 

 program. 



)ulie Desruisseaux, Program Asso- 

 ciate, Agricultural Resources, Merri- 

 mack County, has been working with 

 the school on this project as part of 

 Cooperative Extension's integrated 

 pest management program ("Blue- 

 birds watch for insects from a perch 

 and swoop down when movement is 

 detected; baby bluebirds have large 

 appetites and must be fed every fif- 

 teen minutes." And the American 

 kestrel — the size of a robin and 

 smallest of native North American 

 falcons — during the warm months, 

 feeds on "grasshoppers, crickets, cat- 

 erpillars, moths, beetles, and other 

 agricultural insects; during the fall 

 and winter, it eats meadow voles, 

 mice, and shrews.") 



"Irregularities may be present in 

 some boxes due to the learning pro- 

 cess and student skill level," but the 

 boxes do their job just fine Blue- 

 bird boxes are $11 and kestrel, $14 

 Proceeds are used "for the sole pur- 

 pose of promoting these programs ' 

 To order, contact Julie Desruisseaux 

 at 603-225-5505 



Winners — 

 Congratulations! 



Meg Ranta, winner of the FTDA Dis- 

 trict IC Design Competition in Janu- 

 ary, went on to a third place at the 

 Northeast Florist Associations Con- 

 ference Competitions on March 14. 

 She completed four designs: a wed- 

 ding bouquet, a theme arrangement, 

 a table centerpiece, and a surprise 

 package. 



For the bridal bouquet for a for- 

 mal evening wedding ("Sophisticated 

 Lady"), she created a crescent cas- 



cade using white flowers and a vo- 

 tive candle. For the table setting 

 ("Afternoon Tea"), she set a topiary 

 created with rubrum lilies in a silver 

 bowl. The theme piece ("Regards to 

 Broadway") used calla lilies and 

 anthurium "in bold shades of red 

 black, and white done in a bold con- 

 temporary manner." 



For the "Surprise Package," each 

 designer is given the same flowers and 

 container and allowed to use these in 

 whatever way they choose This time, 

 the materials included a basket, a bag 

 of apples, solidago, carnations, and 

 assorted foliage. Meg created "a cre- 

 ative design best described as an inter- 

 pretive Western line " 

 «' 

 In the College of Life Science and 

 Agriculture Invitational FFA Floricul- 

 ture and Nursery/Landscaping Com- 

 petitions held at UNH, Durham, on 

 March 24, seven schools — Alvirne 

 (Hudson), Co-Brown (Northwood), Fall 

 Mountain (Alstead), Kennett (Conway), 

 Pembroke, Pinkerton (Derry), and 

 Winnisquam (Tilton) — competed. 



In the Floriculture competition, 

 Winnisquam had the highest team 

 score. Wendy Adams (Fall Mountain) 

 had the highest individual score; 

 Narci Seifert (Winnisquam) and Kim 

 Cormier (Pinkerton) had the second 

 and third highest, respectively. 



In Nursery/Landscaping, Coe-Brown 

 won and josh Marston, Mary Treem, 

 and Dan Noyes — all on this team — 

 had the first, second, and third high- 

 est individual scores respectively. 



The winners will represent New 

 Hampshire at the FFA national com- 

 petitions in Kansas City in November 



And at the New Hampshire Orchid 

 Society (NHOS) Show— "Gallery in 

 Bloom" — at the Currier Gallery of Art 

 in Manchester, the Best Cut Flower 

 Arrangement Trophy, sponsored by 

 the NHPGA, was given to Debra 

 Defreze of jasmine's in Seabrook, 

 designing for FTDA District IC. Her 

 arrangement used cymbidiums and 

 dendrobiums clustered at the base 

 and in the branches of driftwood. 

 The trophy was a Pepi Herrman 

 glass bowl engraved with the NHOS 



symbol. 



judging took place in 122 different 

 categories; three American Orchid 

 Society (AOS) awards were given to 

 individual plants whose merits 

 reached international standards. (A 

 bonus for visitors was the program 

 which, along with listing participants 

 and events, gave basic cultural infor- 

 mation for many orchid species.) 



Graduation 



On May second, nearly fifty Master 

 Gardeners attended a class on pro- 

 pagation, then graduated from a 

 course begun back in February. 

 These graduates will do volunteer 

 work overseen by county extension 

 agents. 



Another class will begin next Feb- 

 ruary — there may be fewer openings 

 as the work opportunities remain 

 filled by previous graduates and be- 

 cause of time limitations of supervis- 

 ing agents — but there will be some 

 and those interested should contact 

 their county agents for application 

 forms and an interview. 



Summer Events 



The two garden trails are coming up. 

 The Mount Washington Valley Gar- 

 den Trail is ready for viewing on Au- 

 gust 5-6 Maps will be available at 

 Radio station WMWV in Conway, 

 sponsors' places of business, and 

 various public buildings. The area is 

 large — from Gorham to Effingham; 

 from Fryeburg to Tamworth. Joan 

 Sherman, founder and organizer of 

 the event, stresses that there are no 

 entry fees and viewing is free — the 

 tour is funded through sponsors and 

 radio advertisers. This makes it pos- 

 sible for absolutely anyone to par- 

 ticipate. Joan is willing to help other 

 people start their own trails — for in- 

 formation, contact her at 603-367- 

 4764. 



The state's other Garden Trail is 

 on the seacoast Pretty much the 

 same format is followed — the view- 

 ing dates are July 15-16 and the per- 

 son to contact is Beth Simpson at 

 603-436-2732. 



The Plantsman 



